Audi A5 MOT pass rate and common problems

The Audi A5 passed 77.5% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 5.2 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm.

Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.

How the A5 compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

77.5%

Audi A5

78.5%

Audi average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The A5 runs 1 points behind the Audi average. It is 19th of the 24 Audi models in the data. The average A5 arrived at its test 10.1 years old with 86,823 miles recorded.

A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.

A5 MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

Audi A5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.7% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 71.6%, a drop of 15.2 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 17,392 86.7% 14.4 pts above
6 to 10 years 52,618 79.5% 7.2 pts above
11 years and over 52,941 71.6% 0.7 pts below

That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.

Where A5 failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on Audi A5 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Tyres25.9%
  • Suspension23.6%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment16.6%
  • Brakes9.4%
  • Visibility7.4%
  • Body, chassis, structure6.7%

Tyres and suspension together account for 49.5% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common A5 MOT failures

Specific items recorded on Audi A5 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 9%
  2. 2Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 7.8%
  3. 3Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively wornSuspension 6%
  4. 4Condition has ply or cords exposedTyres 5.7%
  5. 5Condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cordsTyres 4.7%
  6. 6Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirtBody, chassis, structure 4.3%
  7. 7Headlamp aim too lowLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.8%
  8. 8Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thickBrakes 3.8%
  9. 9Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunctionNoise, emissions and leaks 3.8%
  10. 10Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectivelyVisibility 3.6%

Together these 10 items make up 52.7% of everything testers recorded against failed Audi A5 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a A5

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Tyres

Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has ply or cords exposed and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 19.5% of failure items.

2

Suspension

Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 13.9% of failure items.

3

Body, chassis, structure

Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 4.3% of failure items.

4

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

Recorded most often: headlamp aim too low. 3.8% of failure items.

The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific A5 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Audi A5 buying guide.

Already found one?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Audi A5 MOT FAQs

What is the Audi A5 MOT pass rate?

77.5% of Audi A5 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 126,381 tests. That is 5.2 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 233rd of 575 models.

What does an Audi A5 most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on Audi A5 cars failing their 2025 MOT was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, on 9% of failure items. Next were coil spring fractured or broken (7.8%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6%).

Which area causes the most Audi A5 MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was tyres at 25.9%, followed by suspension at 23.6%.

Do older Audi A5 cars fail their MOT more often?

Audi A5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.7% of MOT tests in 2025, against 71.6% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every Audi A5 has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every Audi A5 that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.

How do I see a specific Audi A5's MOT history?

Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.